Ring tones and ring backs are a growing business in the world of telecommunications. Cellular or wireless subscribers in many parts of the world are eager to buy and exchange new ring tones and also set ring back preferences. On the one hand, ring tones are the sounds, such as rings, for example, played on mobile phones upon receiving a call. Simply by way of example, it is not uncommon for a user to download a ring tone which is part of a favorite song or which is selected from a menu of options with many distinctive choices. Today's phones typically provide the user with the capabilities of setting different ring tone preferences based on the caller and even time of day.
Ring backs, on the other hand, are typically sound bytes sent back to the calling party after a call has been dialed depending on preferences set by the called party. While ring tones can be supported by software technology residing purely on the handset, supporting ring backs requires extensive support from the wireless network during the call setup stage. Lucent Technologies Inc. of 600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, N.J. 07974, a provider of communications products and services, has developed a product called MiRingBack that enables service providers to deploy sophisticated ring back solutions in their wireless networks.
iLocator is a location based service platform also from Lucent Technologies Inc. which supports custom location and presence based services such as alerting and tracking family, friends and enterprises, incorporating privacy controls. Among its many capabilities, it interfaces with the Intelligent Services Gateway (ISG) product from Lucent Technologies Inc. to obtain network related information.